Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Offshore Structures: Protection

Lord West of Spithead: To ask His Majesty's Government who is responsible for coordinating protection of (1) oil and gas installations, (2) pipelines, (3) offshore windfarms, (4) undersea electrical cables and interconnectors, and (5) fibreoptic cables, in (a) UK territorial seas, and (b) UK exclusive economic zones; and where this coordination takes place.

Lord Callanan: The Government takes the protection and resilience of subsea and offshore infrastructure seriously and departments work together to protect it from malicious and other hazards such as accidental damage. The Cabinet Office is responsible for coordinating interdepartmental efforts. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is the lead department for the energy sector, including subsea energy infrastructure. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is the lead department for telecommunications policy, including telecommunications subsea cables. The Ministry of Defence is responsible for defending UK interests within the UK Marine Area (UK Territorial Waters and Exclusive Economic Zones) and forms part of HMG’s efforts to counter state threats.

Department of Health and Social Care

Dengue Fever

Baroness Northover: To ask His Majesty's Government what data they hold on the (1) incidence, and (2) impact, of dengue fever on different demographic groups in the UK.

Lord Markham: Dengue case numbers in the United Kingdom were provided annually to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control until 2019, which is the most recent data available. This information showed there were 827 dengue cases in the UK in 2019. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) holds data on dengue infections in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, comprised of laboratory reports from the UKHSA’s Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory at Porton Down. However, the UKHSA does not routinely receive information on outcomes and clinical details, including information on symptoms, deaths and risk groups for these cases. In the event of an apparent increase in dengue cases, the UKHSA would undertake additional investigations.

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control

Baroness Northover: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are still (1) engaged with, and (2) submitting reports to, the memorandum of understanding on communicable diseases agreed with theEuropean Centre for Disease Control on 1 December 2021.

Lord Markham: Future cooperation with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) was included in the United Kingdom’s mandate for the future relationship with the European Union and reference was included in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. On 1 December 2021, the Director of the ECDC and the Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen the collaboration between the ECDC and the UK on matters of communicable disease prevention and control.Conversations about the future relationship with the ECDC are ongoing. To ensure effective, continued engagement, a joint action plan with objectives and performance metrics is under discussion. The UKHSA and the ECDC aim to meet once a year to review activities within the scope of the MoU. The UKHSA is committed to maintaining technical and expert collaboration on matters related to serious cross border health threats with its international partners, including the ECDC.

Primodos

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are supporting the pharmaceutical company Bayer in seeking to strike down an attempt by victims of Primodos to have their case heard; if so, why; and whether they will seek to establish an independent mediation process to ascertain whether there is a causal link between Primodos and birth defects.

Lord Markham: The Department is, with others, defending court proceedings which were issued in December 2019 by claimants who contend that hormone pregnancy tests (HPTs), such as Primodos, caused birth defects.The Department has made an application to strike out the claim by individuals which allege that HPTs caused them harm, which is due to be heard in May 2023. The scientific evidence has been reviewed on a number of occasions and most recently by the Commission on Human Medicines Expert Working Group on Hormone Pregnancy Tests. The Expert Working Group concluded that the available scientific evidence did not support a causal association. It is therefore not considered appropriate to establish an independent mediation process.

Fish: Contamination

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps, if any, the Food Standards Agency are taking to ensure there is no public health risk arising from eating fish caught in UK waters which have been contaminated by sewerage outflows.

Lord Markham: When the Food Standards Agency is notified of a potential food incident, such as sewage spills, which may lead to a food safety risk, it works with local authorities to take appropriate action to protect public health.  Fish and fishery products sold for consumption in the United Kingdom must meet the requirements of food hygiene legislation. Local authorities are responsible for enforcement and carry out official controls, such as inspection and taking samples for laboratory testing, to verify that food business operators comply with the legislation.Food businesses are responsible for ensuring the food sold is safe to eat and that fishery products comply with the relevant health standards. There is currently no evidence that fish caught in UK waters are unsafe to eat.

Primodos

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish all the documents they hold relating to victims of Primodos.

Lord Markham: All documents relating to hormone pregnancy tests, such as Primodos, other than those subject to legal privilege, have been published in an online only format at GOV.UK.

Primodos

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their issuing of an apology to Primodos victims in 2017, what plans they have to support those victims to seek justice through the courts.

Lord Markham: The Government has no plans to do so.

Strokes: Mechanical Thrombectomy

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to meet the target of 10 per cent of eligible stroke patients receiving thrombectomy by 2022 as set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to increase the opening hours of thrombectomy centres nationally to improve access to stroke treatment.

Lord Markham: Thrombectomy is available in 24 centres in England, with two additional non-neuroscience centres currently under development. The latest data shows that 2.8% of patients are receiving a thrombectomy following a stroke.Integrated Stroke Delivery Networks and thrombectomy providers are developing services to provide access to thrombectomy in England 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To increase the number of specialists qualified to provide the treatment in the National Health Service, the General Medical Council aims to extend accredited training for additional medical specialists such as neurosurgeons, neurologists and stroke physicians to train in the delivery of mechanical thrombectomy for the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke.